I've finally got the kit on the car! Had to get some custom hoses made up for the rears, and mess about to get the fronts on. I'm not happy with the short run of copper pipe I had to use for the fronts, so Think Automotive will be making up some custom lines for the front next weekend - but here are some pics:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a198/suba11/Rearhose.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a198/suba11/Rearbrakeassembled.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a198/suba11/Frontbrake.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a198/suba11/Calipernewandold.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a198/suba11/Brakeassembled.jpg


The fronts are Compbrake B7's and the rears are CompBrake R2.

When the front hoses are sorted out I'll be bedding them in properly and they'd better be good!

You just GOTTA LOVE THOSE!!!
Any ideas on cost?

Nice one Si

What size discs are they?

Looking good Si !

Do you happen to know what slider they used on the rear calipers? It looks perfect for my DIY kit .

Also, what is the significance of the arrow on the front caliper? If it is supposed to be the direction of travel for the disc in forward gears, haven't you got the calipers on upside down? It may make no difference, but I know that the Brembos have to go on a certain way round to ensure that the pistons are aligned appropriately for the leading and trailing edge of the pads.

Phil

Hmm.... nice

Dunno - will look tomorrow, but not sure how I can mount them any other way unless the bleed screws point downwards. Did you get my diagram of the slider?

330's

Not sure on cost as I paid for development time as well - not including the wheels was a little over 2K.

Very very nice Simon, looking good. Be great to geta road test report soon!

Joe

What the.. Docfrag?! You're still alive!!
Nice to see you've got the brakes sorted si.

Very nice, should make a huge difference to laptimes Shame I don't still have the clio to see if you've made progress

Wow, those are big boy brakes for a big boy I can feel a track day coming on

P.S. and you Jonny!!!

Looks good Si , well done

Nice work Si......whens the GB?

Hell - I'm going to need them to catch you and the end of the straights Leight!

Well - they're not quite there - yet!

It won't be a cheap upgrade as you need bigger wheels too.

Si, yes, I got the diagram of the slider. Thanks ! That price actually sounds reasonable to me, if it includes the wheels & tyres to upgrade to 17s as well .

Phil

Not including the wheels and tyres......

Ah, that'll teach me to read your post properly in future ! Hmm, £2k without does seem like quite a bit . Still, I'm sure that they will prove worth it once you get a chance to try them out properly on track .

Phil

2k does include development costs, so maybe 1.5/1k to us?

I would have thought so - they do have a price list on their website:

http://www.compbrake.co.uk/

I can speak to them about prices - but I'd rather do so when it's all been tested + lines sorted out etc.

Spoken to them about this - it's fine the way I've done them.....phew! Good spot though!

Oh good, I was hoping that it wasn't anything significant. It just seemed odd to have an arrow on there for no reason !

Phil

Yep give me some time to sort the Alfa, the work is in full flow now The coop would last half a lap on standard disc and pads so it'll have to wait

good work si

suba two questions:

is it OK not to have the small 12mm bolt with the pin on top (you know the one that helps you put the alloy back in place on the front rotors?
I mean, the way they are now, as soon as you remove the wheel, the rotor is on the air (not that it can go anywhere...)

At the rear, are you using your stock calipers and swapped the sliders (or whatever they are called that Phil was asking)?

Looks very good, first impressions (you must have bedded them by now )

cheers

V.

was the 2k for the front and rear brakes?

I'm looking to improve the front brakes in the near future, but I have the Tarox kit at the rear so I'm happy with that!

No - there is nowhere for the locator studs to go. Easy enough to locate the wheel if you use the stud in the Fiat toolkit with the spare wheel.

For the answers to your other questions please re-read my first post on this thread.

Yes - for both front and rear. dont forget you'll need the same or similar wheels as me for the brakes to fit - no chance at all with the standard wheels.

I guess the majority of the cost was for the fronts though?

what colour options are there for the Pro Race, would like to keep a similar kind of colour to the the LE wheels but have only seen the Pro Race in black, white and silver?

It makes the standard wheels redundant so might aswell sell those to make some cash!

They offered me a choice of colours (they send them off to be annodised). I said I was not bothered as long as they were'nt pink or purple. I think the standard is Yellow, black or red.

i was talking about the Pro Race Alloy colours, and got a bit confused when you said standard included red and yellow

I guess they could do whatever colour you want. Mine are Metallic aranthracite - a bit darker than the LE colour, but look fine. Call Team Dynamics - 0121 525 2525.

http://www.teamdynamicsracing.com/pro-race/Pro-race12.htm

(colours at bottom of description)

Ok - update - I've had the custom hoses made up for the front now so they'll be going in soon, then I'll be bedding them in properly. I've noticed so far that the pedal seems to bite a little lower which messes up my pedal setup for heel and toeing. I'm guessing this is due to the bigger pistons. Other than using a spacer under the sparco pedal extensions getting the pedal to bite higher would mean a higher capacity master cylinder? Anyone changed it for a higher capacity one (johnS)? Ideas on cost etc?

I have been told by a reliable source that a bigger master cylinder cant be fitted because the standard one is already a tight squeeze.

Have you given it a good bleed Si ?

What size are the new pistons compared to standard ?

This is the front caliper:

http://www.compbrake.co.uk/compb47.htm

States that the piston size is 40 by 32mm....not sure how that compares to standard off the top of my head.

I've bleed the brakes after getting all the pipework done and the kit working but not again since - I'll have to fit the new front hoses think automotive have done for me and then bleed them again + check all the joint etc. So hope fully things should improve a bit. The brakes are fine the way they are - I'm just being a fussey git!

Off the top of my head thats the same size pistons as the coupe's brembo caliper, I can check later as I have a set stripped down in the garage.

If they are the same then your pedal should feel the same, is the rear caliper larger ?

Rears are here:

http://www.compbrake.co.uk/compR2.htm

38mm piston diameter - cheers for your help Jim.

Ok Si, the standard fronts are 42mm and 38mm pistons and the rear is 33.9mm so 113.9mm piston diameter per side.

Your new set up works out at 110mm per side so you should actually get less pedal travel, it could be the larger rears making the pedal travel more ?

A good pressure bleed of all the brakes should do it though

my pedal is as std so it sounds like you have some air in your system or something like that?

Right - time to put the front hoses on next weekend, bleed the brakes and then give them an utter canning to make sure that they are bedded in right then!

Si, if you want them vacuum bled, give me a call and perhaps we can arrange to meet up for a bleeding good time !

Phil

Cheers Phil - may well be in touch!

Hello,

is there meanwhile a possibility to get the complete kit (rear and front as one package) from Compbrake
or are there still some tests to be done before an official offer?!
Thanks a lot
Juergen

good work there Si, looking good matey

There have been issues with them supplying all the correct nuts and bolts - but these are now sorted (eg. they put the wrong washers in the pack for the rear - which meant I had to cut down the bolts from bell to disc). I now have a proper set of front hoses made up etc. so should be able to offer it all as a kit - I can get the hoses and hardpipes from a local supplier if need be.

I want to test it first though on a track - initial impressions are good though. I also have a bias valve that came with the kit - I'm not sure whether I'll be needing that yet etc.

Cheers Taz - happy birthday!

Took the car out for a proper play last night as pedal feels fine after bleeding again and putting the aeroquip hoses on - bearing in mind the coilovers are not setup right yet (not even had the tracking done) so I was not messing about with the brakes in anything other than a straight line - these brakes really work......

I've had some prices in from comp brake.....they're much cheaper now as they dont have to do a kit from scratch:

Fronts = £800
Rears = £650

That includes everything apart from hoses, but you are going to need Team Dynamics 17 inch wheels (pro race 1.2). If you want to know if any other aftermarket wheels will work then you are welcome to pop round to mine and see! There's also going to be a bit of a group discount for 5 sets or more....

Worth a post in group buys?

suba , yes would worth doing a group buy, but I have a couple of questions, are the front and rear discs 2 piece ( could not tell from pictures) and would they be able to do the discs with a 5x98 pcd , thnks

Yes - both front and rear are two piece. I'm sure they could do that PCD.

si,would the rears fit under std alloys? and how much?

good work by the way

thanks Suba , better get my overdraft limit raised

i'm sure it would be a post in group buy. Could be up for it meself depending when it went ahead

in a few months time i should be investing in the fronts

Good question - I still have a standard set of alloys so will have to try it!

Bugg*r - I just sold my set of standard alloys and forgot to check. I think it's doubtfull though as the disc is a fair bit bigger....

Group buy now set up in the relevant section of the forum.

Si. you can borrow my wheel(s) if you need to check with std rims.

Ken - we can always have a look next time we meet up.

Suba:
How would you compare the brake performance to standard?

Have you measured the distance you need from 60-0 before and after the upgrade?

Did you change the "pre-tension" of the spring of the rear brake balance thingy?

Have you noticed differences in "braking balance", i.e. does the car get light at the rear when braking or does it stay "as stable as standard" when braking heavily..

Thanks, Jochen

My brakes were not standard before the upgrade - I had pagid grooved discs and pagid pads. This setup is significantly better.

I've not measured the stopping distance - just gone by feel.

The brake bias remains unchanged - after I test the kit on a track I may add an adjustable bias valve to play around with the balance.

As standard I found the car got VERY light at the back on braking heavily - as in if you are not going in a straight line then it's spin time! The was originally why I started looking at upgrades. You have to remember that a high % of coops on the road will have a siezed bias valve which will reduce the braking on the rear anyway...

My old brake setup was fine for road use, but I wanted a bit more for use on track, so when the old discs and pads were due for replacement I went the whole hog.

Some airfield testing was done this weekend - so about a minute or so bursts braking from 80 down to 20. Performace was good on the front, but not brutal - possibly they needed more use to get some heat into them.

The rears are fantastic. Handbrake turns with no problem what so ever. The standard brake bias is fine in that there is no rear lift on the brakes at all.

Some proper testing was done at Donnington last weekend.

I did not install the bias valve, but did make sure that the standard compensator was working properly.

I was very impressed - the car stopped hard and consistently, but even more importantly there was no lift at the rear of the car at all under heavy braking.

Very good upgrade IMO.